A gang of seven persons posing as police officers from the Idol Wing robbed ₹11 crore worth gold, diamond and platinum jewellery from the staff of Kiran Rao, a city-based businesswoman, near Chengalpattu.
Last year, the Idol Wing police had seized antique idols/artefacts from businessman and art collector Ranvir Shah’s residence in Saidapet and farmhouse in Kancheepuram district. They also unearthed antique items from Ms. Rao’s house in Poes Garden. Both were granted anticipatory bail by the Madras High Court and criminal cases against them are under investigation.
According to the police, the staff of Ms. Rao, who is the managing director of Amethyst, participated in an exhibition in Madurai displaying the precious antique/design jewellery on Friday and Saturday last.
On Sunday, Dayanidhi, a senior staff of her company, and four others were returning with jewellery in suitcases and ₹7 lakh in a car from Madurai.
7-member gang
Immediately after crossing the toll gate in Paranur at 3 p.m., they were stopped by a gang of seven persons — two of them in police uniform.
In the guise of a search, they loaded the jewellery and cash on another vehicle. Then, the “policemen” asked the staff to follow them in the car. On the city’s outskirts, the gang told them that they would come and interrogate their boss at her office on Whites Road. The staff waited for them till night but the “policemen” never came.
Complaint lodged
After verifying with the officers in the Idol Wing headquarters in Guindy, the staff realised they had been robbed. They lodged a complaint with the Chengalpattu Taluk police station.
Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police Santhosh Hadimani told The Hindu, “We have registered a case and the investigation is on. We are trying to locate the vehicle and the people involved in the robbery. Very soon, we will get a lead in the investigation.”